Living in Canada

The Migrants’ Guide to Living in Canada

Location Canada lies north of the USA and is the world’s second largest country. The vast majority of Canada’s population lives near the southern border with the USA.

Employment In recent years, Canada’s agricultural and mineral exports have performed well in world markets. Economic conditions are relatively good for most of the country.

A few years ago, you would not have been advised to come to Canada to improve your salary.

Canadians enjoyed, and still enjoy, a very high quality of life but, compared with salaries available in the USA, UK and Northern Europe, Canadians were not highly paid.

Now rising wages and a strengthening currency have pushed Canada’s average wage higher than the USA’s, the UK’s, and most of Europe’s.

A major advantage of living in Canada is that, in most locations, it’s possible to buy a comfortable, large, detached house on a normal income.

Jobs tend to be most plentiful in Toronto / Southern Ontario, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton.

Canada has not been immune to the general economic downturn, however, and unemployment rates in Toronto and Vancouver hover (mid 2014) at about 8 and 5 percent respectively, while Calgary’s and Edmonton’s are about 5 to 5.5 percent.

Getting work can be difficult for migrants when they first arrive in Canada. Ideally you should arrange a job before you move to Canada.

Before seriously considering moving to Canada, it is absolutely vital you check that Canadian employers will accept your qualifications and experience.

If you have specialist, in-demand skills you are less likely to encounter difficulties but that is no guarantee of finding a suitable job.

When they have a position to fill, Canadian employers tend to look first for a local employee – someone they can get the low-down on from trusted industry contacts. If they can’t find a suitable local employee, employers will consider taking on a migrant.

Given the potential difficulties in finding suitable work, migrants are strongly advised to bring plenty of money to live on while job-hunting.

If your English language skills are not excellent, you may find it almost impossible to get a job appropriate to your skills.